Sunday, March 24, 2013

This week for the Comic book Week in Review we did reviews for some of the books we covered on Comicast #73 and a few we didn’t.

Dark Horse Comics

Star Wars Legacy #1 $2.99
Writers: Corinna Bechko, Gabriel Hardman, Artist: Gabriel Hardman
Takes place 140 some years after New Hope. The Jedi, Imperial Court, and Galactic Alliance are currently at peace. It starts with an imperial Knight and his ship crew get attacked by Sith on an unknown planet. To say the least it gets interesting quick even if you're not quite sure what's going. If you can’t tell from the cover Ania Solo, a direct descendent of Han & Leia, is a salvager that comes across a droid with a lightsaber. She thinks this is her ticket off planet. In actuality it ends of being her ticket to trouble. The art is pretty shading heavy and focused. It definitely gives a good grimy, grim, bleak future look. Story is interesting enough but we'll see where it goes.
Verdict: STRONG SKIM

DC

BATWOMAN #18, $2.99Written by: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman, Art by: Trevor McCarthyThe art isn't nearly as good but it still retains the same fashion, design, look, and feel of the book. That's my biggest complaint which is more of an observation. It instantly captivates you as it starts with Batwoman and Hawkfire in the middle of a fight with Mr. Freeze. The battle that ensues is rather rough and brutal. There also ends up being a surprise guest. The people that Batwoman is currently working for have lost faith in her so the bring someone in to help pull the reigns. That was the gist of it. There were a couple pages of Maggie and Jacob. Nothing earth shattering just some personal stuff to move it along. It's interesting to see where this is all going especially considering the surprise guest.Verdict: BUY

Constantine #1 $2.99Writer: Jeff Lemire & Ray Fawkes, Artist: Renato GuedesI thought this might be worth checking out since Lemire is writing and Guedes is a pretty talented artist. At first I found the story boring and somewhat confusing. I never knew what Constantine was doing or talking about. There's so etching about magic that just confuses me. As I said oat first and for a good majority of the issue I was uninterested and kind of bored. I thought I was just reading about some limey that helps people with their magic ills. By the end I realized that Constantine isn't as good or nice as he appears to be. This intrigued me but that wasn't until the end though. The art is rather impressed but I'm not hooked, not yet at least.Verdict: SKIM

Nightwing #18 $2.99Writer: Kyle Higgins, Artist: Juan JoséThis is the same artist as the last issue. I don't know if he's the new ongoing artist or just filling in. He was still fitting to the story as Dick is still hurt physically and emotionally now from Damien's death. To put it in Dick's words "you were my brother in every sense of the word." It's a little odd to have issues that are so similar back to back but it worked. Even the moment with Batman was written really well. As I've said and will continue to say, I do not mind that this book is slow because at the end of each issue I feel closer to Dick. Dick and Sonia's relationship gets more personal and serious in this issue but by the end it is once again strained. The art wasn't quite as good as the last issue but it was so close you could barely tell. This is the second deepest and true Requiem tie-in after Batman & Robin #18 which is quite fitting.Verdict: BUY

IDW

Judge Dredd Year One #1 $3.99
Writer: Matt Smith, Artist: Simon Coleby
Gorgeous, awe inspiring cover. The art is of a shady, gritty, sketchy, grimy variety. The somewhat harshness of the art is very fitting for the Judge Dredd title name. The colors are strong and add a lot to the art. The story is about minors of different ages with sudden bursts of psychic attacks. Judge Dredd responds to a robbery and comes across one of these psychic manifested "juves". It turns out there have been quite a few occurrences of this in the same area and they're getting stronger. The art is extremely fitting for this book but I'm not so sure if the story is yet. This issue is just not what I expected when the book is titled Year One. In fact they even mention in the book that its his second year as a Judge not the first so it doesn't really make sense that its called that. I'm not saying that the story isn't good because if this story was in the ongoing title I would totally be on board. I'll have to wait and see if it gives more of a year one feel next issue.
Verdict: BUY

Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time #3 $3.99
Writers: Scott & David Tipton, Artist: Mike Collins
Unfortunately I was unable to read issue two because apparently this Doctor Who guy is pretty popular. Good thing it doesn't matter that I didn't though. This one is easy to jump into, read, and enjoy. It's a classic Doctor Who tale. This issue features the 3rd Doctor traveling with Sarah Jane. He is hailed by Doctor Elizabeth Shaw in London. Apparently it has been raining constantly and the Doctor is summoned to find out why and how amongst other things. Per usual it has something to do with alien influence. The earth is almost flooded, England almost gets nuked, and something happens to his allies. Like I said classic Doctor Who. The shading, facial expressions, and colts were fantastic. This is just a good, classic, easy, fun read.
Verdict: BUY

Marvel

AVENGERS #8, $3.99Writer: Jonathan Hickman, Artist: Dustin WeaverThings are starting to become a lot less confusing and a little more clear. The situation gets thick quick. I like how Hickman is making use of nearly every character in this ensemble cast. Weaver is a little sketch heavy at times but overall the art is rather stunning. At first I felt that the first story arc was too short but now it seems it was never over. It seems like the addition to the book is not loyal to Earth or the Avengers.Verdict: BUY